"This upstart like is the new say, and users find it a handy tool for quoting or paraphrasing the speech of others, often with sarcasm or irony. Linguists call it the "quotative like," but any 16-year-old can show you how it works.

For example, like can introduce an actual quotation ("She's like, 'What unusual shoes you're wearing!' ") or paraphrase one ("She's like, my shoes are weird!")." - International Herald Tribune, July 15, 2007, "Learning to like Like"